


Accidently In Love

by bipedalpanda (jbird181)



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: (and even if you don't), (if you squint), Accidents Happen, Ezekiel Whump, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Late Midnight Snacks, M/M, Oh Crap! Another Accident, Shipper!Ray, Vegemite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 03:47:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8562682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbird181/pseuds/bipedalpanda
Summary: Ezekiel is not pleased, to say the least, about breaking his ankle. He's even less happy about the cast and crutches that come with it, but it turns out accidents do happen for a reason after all.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Little Moments](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7184201) by [ReederJoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReederJoe/pseuds/ReederJoe). 



> Big thanks to ReederJoe for letting me basically steal the idea for this. Also a thanks goes out to Jay, the beta of this one-shot turned short story. (Really though, it was supposed to be a little one-shot, then ended up being a 2000+ word short story. Key words: supposed to be.)

Third Person: The Accident

  
Stone was relaxing in the Great Room when it happened. All of a sudden there was a smack of flesh hitting the tile along with the clap of books falling and sliding across the floor. A quiet string of curses floated from the same direction as the noise. Stone immediately lept up and rushed to the person’s aid.

  
The first sign that something was more serious than a simple spill was that Ezekiel’s phone was lying near one of the hallways next to the place the noises had come from, and as far as Stone knew, Ezekiel never went anywhere without it.

The next sign was that the place of incident was next to a stairwell.  _Even worse._

  
Stone rounded the corner to see Jones lying face-down at the bottom of a flight of stairs, various books spread haphazardly around him. Stone immediately rushed to his side.  
“What happened?” he demanded. 

  
Ezekiel lifted his head off the ground and squinted at him. “I fell down the stairs. What does it look like?” Stone rolled his eyes. _Trust Ezekiel to keep a smart-alecky attitude, even after tumbling down the stairs._

  
“Is anything broken?”

  
“Well, something's obviously wrong with my ankle.” He tried to move it, but winced and let loose another string of curses in what Stone now recognized as Korean. But the more pressing matter at hand, or, in this case, at foot, was the fact that Ezekiel’s ankle was now swelling and turning purple.

  
“Right, I'm calling 911,” Stone decided. “You need to go to a hospital.”

  
“No!” Ezekiel cried with surprising strength. Stone raised his eyebrows, phone already out and in his hand. “I mean, it's just, I don't really like hospitals,” he finished weakly.

  
“I'm sorry, Jones, but you need to have that ankle checked out,” Stone said firmly, though his heart went out to Ezekiel. Ezekiel shifted again and grimaced. This was _not_ going to be fun.

Ezekiel’s P.O.V.: The Second Accident

  
Six to eight weeks. Six to eight _weeks_. If I haven't gone stir-crazy by then, I'll be able to get the giant cast off my broken ankle. Really, it's ridiculously large. I bet the doctor is screwing me over. These are the thoughts going through my head as I hobble out of the hospital, surrounded by my friends. After getting me to the hospital, Stone had texted Cassandra and Baird, who had been on a case together at the time of my “accident”, as everyone kept calling it. 

  
I was sick of that word. 

  
Ten minutes after Stone texted, a worried Cassandra bustled into my hospital room, accompanied by an equally worried Baird, though she tried not to show it as she attempted to calm Cassandra down. She refused to believe that I was _fine_. Mostly. I mean, besides the broken ankle, obviously. And apparently, that meant six to eight weeks of no going on cases, no stealing, and basically no fun-having whatsoever, according to my worked-up friends. Where’d that leave me, reading dusty old books for six to eight weeks? _No thank you._

  
I understood why they were worried, but that didn't mean I had to like it. Besides, I was fine. In fact, the whole situation was a little embarrassing. I literally fell down the stairs because I was looking at Tumblr, and I broke my ankle. Excuse me while I mentally facepalm. That's something I'll never admit to as long as I live.

  
Now my friends were almost always around me, offering help, otherwise know as _hovering_. I had mostly mastered using crutches, so I was perfectly fine, but they insisted on helping me in any way they could despite my protests. Oh, and, just between the two of us, I didn't completely obey the “no stealing” rule. I mean, I have a reputation to uphold. I pickpocketed Stone a couple times, giving him back his wallet when he least expected it and basking in his flustered expression. 

  
Now, though, they had just gotten back from a case and they were all looking kind of beat. I tried to convince them that I was fine, and that they should rest. 

  
About two hours later, everyone was in bed, including me. I stared at the ceiling, my heartbeat blending with the dull ache from my ankle. I was starting to reconsider my stance on the pain medication. I had noticed that the others were all looking more tired lately and realized it was probably because of the constant cases… and worrying about me. I instantly felt guilty. I mean, if I hadn't been so stupid, they wouldn't be so worried. My heart felt heavier than usual as sleep finally claimed me.

  
I woke with a start to pain shooting through my leg. I quickly realized I had only banged my cast against the wall, but of course I couldn't sleep after that. I glanced at the clock. 4:02. _Close enough_ , I thought. Time for a midnight snack. 

  
I stood at the counter holding up a butter knife, waiting for my bread to finish toasting. My crutches leaned against the counter next to me as I stared down the appliance. It finally popped up, making me jump, and I quickly pulled out my toast before shooting the toaster a final death glare. Then I opened the vegemite. (Yes, I was being a stereotypical Australian. I don't care. Vegemite tastes fine, delicious actually, despite what you tasteless people say.)

  
Just as I was finishing, a voice from the doorway said, “Really?” I spun as well as I could with my ginormous cast and saw Stone leaning against the doorway. “What are you doing?” he asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

  
“I was just getting a midnight snack!” I protested, holding up the last bite of toast defensively. 

  
Stone sighed. “At four a.m.? You know what, nevermind. That's not important right now. What if you had fallen coming here? Baird and Cassandra would be worried sick! And for what, toast?” 

  
The guilt in my stomach that never seems to fully go away nowadays awakens and turns the toast in my stomach to lead. “With vegemite,” I add. Maybe if I pretend I'm not bothered, he’ll give up. All I got for my efforts was a glare. Like I don't feel bad enough already without him rubbing the others’ worry in my face. “I… I only went like 100 meters!” I continued, quickly trying to come up with a good excuse and get my mask on. Exhausted and thinking I was alone, I had let it slip. 

  
Stone must have noticed my desperate tone, because his eyes soften, just a little bit. “Come on. I’ll take you back to your room.” I didn’t want pity—I wasn’t an invalid—and I didn’t deserve it. 

  
I forced myself to smile. “No thanks, Cowboy, I’m fine.” I picked up my crutches and attempted to hop past Stone to prove my point: I was fine on my own. That meant, of course, that my crutches chose that moment to bail on me. They slid out from under me, sending me careening into Stone and knocking him down. I landed on top of him and definitely did _not_ let out a cry similar to that of a surprised mouse. I kept my eyes squeezed shut, trying to fend off the waves of pain shooting up my leg from the impact. When the pain abated, I opened my eyes for a second, then blinked rapidly, because last time I checked, Stone did _not_ have yellow spots dancing across his face. I finally recovered, and stared down at Stone, who was blushing profusely for some reason. 

  
That’s when I realized our lips were touching. 

  
I was _kissing him_. 

  
I could feel color flooding my face and neck. I attempted to scramble off him, dumping myself onto the tile floor. “I—um, do you want help?” Stone asked, his voice sounding tight. 

  
“No, no, I’m fine,” I repeated, using my mantra to calm myself as I collected my traitorous crutches in an attempt to stand upright. As if on impulse, Stone’s arm shot out and steadied me. I looked at him, and he stared back. His embarrassment would have been cute if I didn’t know I was the same shade of fuschia. 

  
“Um...” Stone withdrew his hand and finally gained control over his vocal chords again. “Sorry, well, um goodnight.” 

  
“Yeah, I mean, goodnight.” I then hobbled out of there as quickly as my broken ankle and crutches would allow.

  
I did sneak a look back and was rewarded with the image of Stone leaning against the counter, still the color of a raspberry, looking as dumbstruck as I felt. My lips still tingled where they had touched his, and something blossomed in my stomach, folding itself up and banging around like a frustrated contortionist. I refused to try to categorize it as an emotion. It was just leftover adrenaline from my fall. Nothing more. After all, the kiss was just an accident. 

  
Stone’s P.O.V.: The Aftermath

  
“Do you know what’s going on with Jake and Ezekiel?” Cassandra asked Colonel Baird quietly, but not quietly enough that I didn’t hear it. My face started to burn again as I relived last night. Ezekiel and I hadn't really spoken since our awkward encounter, but… one part of the incident didn’t invoke the same embarrassed reaction from me. Instead, when I recalled how his lips had tasted, my stomach flipped and tumbled like it it was falling down a flight of stairs. His lips had been slightly sweet, for whatever reason. I refused to believe it was the vegemite. My lips tingled, and I struggled to refocus on my research. 

  
I failed miserably. 

  
I sighed, defeated, got up, and walked out, zigzagging through the endless shelves until I found it. The room looked like a regular living room, but it was cozy nevertheless. A couple overstuffed chairs and a couch faced a crackling fireplace, although who kept it burning I had no idea. I didn’t think anyone else knew about this place, but as I entered, I realized there was someone already here. A pair of legs, one wrapped in an insanely large cast, dangled over the arm of one of the chairs. _Oh no_. I slowed at the doorway, but decided to suck it up and enter. 

  
“Hey,” I started, sitting on the couch and looking over at Ezekiel, who was looking at his phone. Triumphant music played, and I'm pretty sure I saw the screen for some bird game before he shut his phone off, then looked up at me. 

  
“Hey.” The tips of his ears were already turning red. I licked my suddenly dry lips. I realized I hadn't planned what to do after saying hello. Ezekiel swung his legs off the arm of the chair and shifted to the edge of his seat. 

  
“Um, so, do you want to talk about what happened?” I started weakly, cringing at my own words. I hurried to explain, “So it's not super awkward for, you know…” 

  
“Yeah.” He looked down at his cast. “Purely accidental, trust me.” 

  
_Ouch_. 

  
“No, like, I didn't mind… That is, I mean, not, no why is this weird?”

  
“Uh, maybe because you kissed me?”

  
“Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” I stuck my hands out in front of me, palms out to signify “hold on”. “You're saying _I_ kissed _you_? You were the one who knocked me over!”

  
“Yeah, I was trying to leave because you were making things awkward!”

  
“How? The only awkward part was _after_ the kiss and--”

  
“So you liked it?” Ezekiel smirked as he watched me try to process his words.

  
“What?”

  
“Well, you said things weren’t awkward until after the kiss…” Ezekiel paused and inspected the fingernail I just realized he was picking at. “So I presume you enjoyed kissing me?”

  
I forced my mouth to shut, then reopen, then shut again as I attempted to jumpstart my brain. “So… so what if I did?” I tried, going on the defense. I don't think he bought my defiance though. Defiance is more Ezekiel’s strong suit.

  
He was suddenly very interested in that fingernail again. Ezekiel mumbled something, not meeting my eyes.

  
“What?”

  
He clenched his hand into a fist and scanned my eyes almost desperately. The intensity of Ezekiel’s stare was nearly too much as he repeated shyly, “Do you want to try again?”

  
I blanched, and once again my vocal chords bailed on me. I was suddenly hyper-aware of how close he had moved to me, how his lips were parted ever-so-slightly, and how he was just barely leaning toward me. But then his expression changed, it was like he had retreated back somewhere inside himself I couldn’t follow, and he began to move away, backtracking. “I mean, we don’t have to, I’m sorry, that was stupid, I--”

  
“Yeah!” I blurted. Then it was my turn to backtrack. “I mean, _no_ , I do want to try again!” I cringed again at my words, but Ezekiel had stopped moving away and was smiling shyly.

  
“Then we should make this a more proper kiss, right?”

  
“Definitely,” I agreed, leaning towards him. All of a sudden it seemed like our seats were closer together. _Thanks, Ray_ , I thought with a smile. “Especially if we’re going to hit all the rom-com requirements,” I continued. 

  
Ezekiel snorted and gave me that look that always turns my insides to butter, but he smiled too, and then our lips met. His lips were warm, along with the hand that came up to cup my cheek. I reached for his other hand and squeezed gently. We gazed at each other, but this time it wasn’t because we had accidently collided. I saw something new in his warm brown eyes, and it caused my stomach to leap. I wasn’t quite sure what it was yet, but I knew I wanted to find out what that soft half-smile meant. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. It felt like a delicate snow globe I was afraid to shake. The room, his lips, his hands, his eyes... my insides filled up with an overpowering warmth, sweeping away all of the bad memories and pain, if only for a little while. Ezekiel was blushing, and I was sure I was too, but I reached up with my free hand to rub circles on his cheek with my thumb. We stayed there for a while, just drinking each other in.

  
I realized as an afterthought that his lips were still sweet, but now I knew for sure it wasn’t from vegemite. It was the just the way he was. _Sweet_. 


End file.
